Father, daughter plan to restore Mark II restaurants

The future looks bright for the four closed Mark II Family Restaurants in Luzerne County.

A father and daughter have purchased the mortgage to the restaurants and began renovating them. They plan to sell or lease them, restore them to productive use and put them back on the tax rolls.

This is a new venture for Jack Williams, 68, the retired former co-owner of Jack Williams Tire and former owner of Two Jacks Cycle in Wilkes-Barre, and his daughter, Jennifer Williams, 42, a certified public accountant, who formed a new company called JW Ventures.

"We're going to hopefully rehabilitate them and get them back on the market as productive properties, paying taxes and employing people like they used to be," Jack Williams said during an interview at the closed restaurant in Wilkes-Barre Township. "We don't have plans on any one. We may sell them. We may lease them."

Jack and Jennifer Williams agreed to assume debts amounting to $965,219 at a sheriff's sale in August for the closed restaurants on Route 309, Wilkes-Barre Township; Kidder Street, Wilkes-Barre; Dallas and Edwardsville, according to court documents.

Under the agreement approved, they would pay back delinquent taxes owed to municipalities, Luzerne County and the school districts but interests and penalties would be waived, said Attorney Bruce Phillips, solicitor for Wilkes-Barre Township. Interest amounted to $127,904, according to court documents.

Jack Williams dispelled rumors that he would turn any of the sites into a tire and auto service center. After nearly 30 years with Jack Williams Tire, he sold his part of the company to his brother Bill years ago. He retired in 1993 and sold Two Jacks Cycle to a new owner, Bill Davis, last year.

"I haven't been in the tire business for a while," Williams said. "I'm retired and I have a little more time on my hands now. Every time I drove by one of these restaurants, I remembered eating lunch at all these places when I was in business."

Two years ago, the Mark II Family Restaurants in Wilkes-Barre Township and Dallas closed after the 37-year-old Luzerne County chain filed for bankruptcy. The restaurant on Kidder Street in Wilkes-Barre closed in 2006 and restaurant on Route 11 in Edwardsville closed in 2007.

Bernie Sult, his brother Tom Sult and mother Marilyn Carson put two of their four restaurants up for sale for a combined $2.65 million and entered into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an effort to reorganize under court supervision and reduce their debt. The case was switched to Chapter 7 in September 2008, under which a filer's assets are sold to pay down debt.

When Jack Williams saw the closed restaurants deteriorating and weeds growing, he said he thought it was a shame and they should look into renovating them.

"It got complicated and took a long time, but we were successful," Williams said. "Some are worse than others. This one (on 309) was in the best shape. But over the summer, people broke in here and cut out the copper wire. They broke into the Edwardsville restaurant in April and decimated that place. They broke into Kidder Street also. They need a lot of work."

Jack and Jennifer Williams emphasized it was too early to say what the closed restaurants would be but they are pleased to be cleaning up eyesores and returning them to productive use.

"We're still dealing with the tax issues and clearing up all the liens," Jennifer Williams said. "We're interested in talking to potential tenants or buyers. We know there is a lot of interest in these buildings."

In the future, they would like to invest in redeveloping more small commercial properties.

"This is a doozy for a first venture," Jack Williams said.

Michael R. Sisak, staff writer, contributed to this report.

dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2115

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